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LMC Drop Kit on a Chevy S-10 - Droppin' The Dime

LMC Has S-10 Lowering Options For Any Budget

Photography by Calin Head

Mini Truckin', February 01, 2009

While Browsing The LMC Catalogue We Noticed That There Was Lowering Options Ranging In Price And Amount Of Drop.

We wanted the truck to be as low as possible without installing a c-notch (at this time) so we ordered the 4/6 kit for the first generation S-10. This kit includes 2-inch coils and 2-inch drop spindles for the front, and a new set of leaf springs and 3-inch blocks for the rear. This kit came with a $550.00 price tag which is in our budget to get that low, but might still be out of your budget if your just looking for a 2-inch drop. With that in mind we installed the parts separately and broke down the prices out for each. This can help you decide how much lowering you can afford.

Instead of filling the pages with how to install the basic parts we skipped those pictures and focused on the parts and the results. There are a few little tips that will help anyone doing this job.

Rather than throwing the truck up on the lift, we decided to take one for the proverbial team, and do the job out front on jack stands. A standard set of mechanic tools like wrenches, sockets, pliers, jack, jackstands, prybar, and a hammer did the trick. One specialty tool was used when we had to whip out an air powered cut off wheel that was needed to remedy a problematic leaf-spring bolt, but other than that, the install was smooth.

1.Here is the truck at stock ride height with 18-inch Paradox rims. The front tires measure 25 1/4 inches tall and the rears are 25. Yes the rear tires are shorter than the fronts, but that's only temporary. We wanted to lower it first that way we could order the perfect tire size to fill the wheel well.

1.Here is the truck at stock ride height with 18-inch Paradox rims. The front tires measur

2.Having two sets of stands will speed up your install. You will need the jack to unload the tension on the springs, so if you don't have any stands don't even try this install until you can borrow or go buy some.

2.Having two sets of stands will speed up your install. You will need the jack to unload t

3.Here are the only sundries used for the install. A can of brake cleaner was used to clean grease off the rotors and the grease is for the wheel bearings.

3.Here are the only sundries used for the install. A can of brake cleaner was used to clea

4.It's also a good idea to get an assortment of cotter pins because most lowering kits won't give you all the ones you might need for the tie rods, etc.

4.It's also a good idea to get an assortment of cotter pins because most lowering kits won

$159 Here is what you get for $159.00: 3-inch lowering blocks, 2-inch drop coil springs.

So here it is with the cheapest parts of this story. We used the 2-inch-drop coil in the front and 3-inch blocks in the rear. The front will be the only part of the suspension that the ride quality will change because of the new spring. It has a stiffer rating to control the truck in less travel. With this set up you can retain your factory shocks front and rear.

$275 Here is what you get for $275.00: 3-inch lowering blocks, 2-inch drop coil springs, and 2-inch drop spindles.

Now we're getting somewhere. For this step we used everything pictured above plus the 2-inch-drop spindle. This has the spring and spindle up front with the 3-inch block out back. The front came down 4 1/2 inches and looks perfect while the rear is still a 3-inch drop. The rear still retains the factory shocks, but it's a little too high now that the front is this low.

$550 Here is what you get for $550.00: Above products plus drop leaf springs.

Booya! This is fully dumped. Here is everything installed on the truck. The front is the same as the previous image, but the rear is the new leaves and the 3-inch block. The rear is bottomed out (see "Trouble shooting the Rear" ). We will defiantly need new rear shocks as the install height is now 16 1/2 inches and the stock shocks bottom out at 15 1/2.

Trouble Shooting The RearAs you can see, even with the rubber bump stops removed, the leaf and block combo bottoms the truck out. If you cut off the bump stop mount that is welded to the frame it will give you almost two more inches of clearance.